Personal Branding
Recently, a friend mentioned that he sees my name all over the place, and he asked me my secret to publicity. I answered that I am just interested in lots of things, so maybe he was seeing me around due to that. But later, I thought about the question, and there are some things I do as matter of habit that relate to the notion of personal branding.
First, the Concept
There are two sources to my belief that people should have a vision of themselves as a “brand” the same way Coke or Sony are brands. One is this article by Tom Peters from the tenth ever issue of FastCompany. The other was a decades old interview with pop singer Madonna, where she said, “It’s important to reinvent yourself every year.”
I believe that “branding” in the personal world means ensuring that people understand what it is you truly have to offer, and they understand what and how you can do for them.
Simple, Honest, Easy
Even if you don’t subscribe to personal competition, your brand, or even you as a person, are competing for attention, time, money, and other scarce resources with other people and things. If you’re interested in working with great people, you’re one of many interested in that same thing. If you believe your video or audio show is worth subscribing to and consuming, there are several hundred (thousands) people who feel they have a great product as well.
Make your brand (the way people understand what you offer) simple, honest, and easy to work with. It’s the most consistent route to your goal of being the person they think of when they think of ________. By simple, I’m saying that the more words or images it takes to describe you, the harder it will be for people to carry that message off in their heads. Honest should be a no-brainer, but lots of people pump themselves up to be much more than they are or ever could be. (People like this often say “we” when they mean “I.”) Easy to work with is another no-brainer, but people miss this all the time. Make it ridiculously easy for people to get in touch with you, and show them what you’re interested in working on.
Go Outside the Obvious Channel
When I wrote almost solely about running and fitness, my readers were pretty much into running and fitness. When I added self-esteem into the topic mix, I got LOTS of people from all over the place to start reading. When I wrote about productivity and self-esteem, with a little management and organizational life stuff in there, pow.
Stretch your brand to reach people other than a single micro core niche. Unless your goal is to live in and OWN that niche. Then don’t pay attention to me. But then again, sometimes you THINK you’re one thing, but others will perceive you differently.
I spent my entire 20s thinking that I was a writer. When I threw away that label, I started writing like there was no tomorrow. Go figure.
Don’t Overstretch
Pay attention to traditional brands like consumer brands and the like. They are forever stretching just a little too far past the border of what the people believe their brand encompasses, and pretty rarely do those overstretches work out. Instead, stay tuned to the way you want to be perceived, and project those things to the “channels” of people that you want to have notice and respond to your branding.
This doesn’t apply to business people, by the way. YOU are a brand, whether or not you choose to see yourself that way. How you parent has branding impressions. How you work at the church. Whatever you’re doing, that’s where people are choosing to form an opinion of your brand. My point in talking about this is to remind you that YOU can drive the message instead of react to people’s perceptions. Think about it.
What do YOU think your brand says to me?
(photo credit Clintus McGintus)
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Comments
Very timely for me, I love the idea of branding and controlling your own image, even in everyday life.
Me too Annie. I always thought I’d be good at self-promoting, once I got over myself, and also once I was reached a, uh, “more mature” point in life when I actually had decent “product” to promote. ‘Course I had some good stuff back in my teens/twenties to promote too, but I don’t think it would have been, say, Twitterable.
Sometimes people use “we” instead of “I” not to pump themselves up, but to deflect attention away from themselves.
I know we do it.
Great post BTW
I prefer to be as hands-off about personal branding as possible. You’re either being genuine or you’re not. If you are, the rest will take care of itself.
Professional branding requires a more attentive approach but really isn’t all that different to me.
-Jon
I admit that I first came across you when searching myself on Google. Oddly enough though, it seems like I see your name pop up more frequently. Especially via Twitter. I’m not sure how many Brogans there are out there, so there may be no relation at all, but it was pretty weird when I found that you were interested in podcasting. (That’s one of my main hobbies.)
Well anyway, I enjoyed the advice in this blog post.
-Rob
ah, you mentioned my idol Madonna. When asked by a reporter 10 years ago who I admired, I said “Martha Stewart and Madonna because they are both in control of their brands and businesses.” Of course, this was pre-jail for Martha, but never mind that. I love the idea of re-inventing one’s identity like Madonna and really take it to heart, especially the older (read: less cute factor) I get. I’ve been so out of the loop lately, however, that I feel like I’m stuck in a non-brand limbo, the purgatory of brandaholics.
Hello to you, Rob! Doubt we’re related, but drop me a line. I love knowing more Brogans.
Aliza- you are a brand and then some. Techie Media Mom is a killer brand right now. Hottest ever. Hell,, *I* have http://gnmparents.com for the very reason. I love the space you’re in right now.
Good thoughts, everyone.
Being involved in New media, I see the lines between on stage and off stage blurring. In a lot of ways, this is a good thing- I have always been a WYSIWYG girl anyway.
This means you have to know who you are and try to be centered with that. Even when you have to make hard decisions, say No to someone, or break bad news, if you have a reputation for authenticity and honesty, people take what you say as perfectly acceptable- they aren’t searching for subtext or subtitiles to decode your message, when there isn’t any, anyway. If you always have a difference between your professional persona and your real self, then people rapidly start to look for the code.
I’ve been in meetings where people exchange looks or don’t seem to say what they’re thinking and feed you a party line, and I HATE this more than anything. Just say it. No matter how bad it is, I’d rather know than start making up my own version or guess at what the heck is really going on.
So maybe the message in personal branding is to ditch the subtitles.
Nick- quite honestly, your brand says that you’re an observer of life. You really find things interesting, and you highlight your passion of what others say and do, in the best of ways. It doesn’t say that YOU stand out huge and take big roaring swings at everything, which says to me in turn: Nick’s probably a great team player.
Whitney- Party lines are for sucks. : )
Great post topic Chris– I have been thinking a lot about personal branding, that’s why I re-started my personal blog (which I am still finding a voice for) while still being part of the Topaz blogging/podcasting hydra. Kinda like being in a band and trying to have a successful solo career at the same time, without robbing either of its energy. I credit lots of people for energizing my thinking on that– you are one of them, Chris Penn of course, and Ed Lee is another who had a similar post that kicked me in the head and got me going.
Keep killin’ em, man!
Hmmmm, if I decided to become an Elvis, or maybe even a Seth Godin, impersonator, what would that say about my brand . . . :)
Seriously though, great post. Personal branding is much more than this nonsense about “be authentic,” “just be yourself,” etc. Yes, that’s important, but there’s more as you mention.
If I was 100% purely and totally authentic, I’d blog, speak, publicly disseminate info about, and otherwise annoy people with stuff like: great food, biking, saltwater flyfishing, wine, my kids bowel movements, and more. ALL my interests, ALL the time.
But focus matters, as do many other things
To Ted’s point (assuming the “nonsense” label was applied to my comment, as well):
If you have a genuine or authentic desire to connect with people in a way that isn’t 100% about your interests 100% of the time, then that will happen fairly naturally. The point was more about presenting one’s self in a way that is focused or “on message” without appearing to be a glad-handing salesman or a fake.
Yes, personal branding does require diligence and effort. What I’m saying is that, for me, if I’m gearing up to go to a conference (or unconference, as it were) I’m going to be focused on “being genuine” because I’ll have a better chance of making real, lasting connections with people, meeting and talking with people whose interests are aligned with or complementary to my own, and avoiding exchanges that are a waste of mine and the other party’s time.
“Be genuine” is a guiding principal rather than a strategy or plan. Strategies and plans will vary for each situation or medium. But, speaking personally, I need that guiding principal to keep from drifting off course and/or overcomplicating things, which I tend to do. I need it because it means I can “think” or “strive” less and “be” more, if that makes any sense.
“Simple, honest, easy to work with,” as Chris said.
-Jon
You told me once that you subscribe to people; that you are into people. You see the bigger picture and I think that’s what makes you above the rest.
Personal Branding will become even more relevant in the coming years, as the population grows, along the side of competition. It is actually very complicated to brand yourself and requires extensive effort at first and then to maintain it over time is a challenge as well.
I speak about this subject all the time in my blog….. http://www.personalbrandingblog.com
“I spent my entire 20s thinking that I was a writer. When I threw away that label, I started writing like there was no tomorrow. Go figure.”
Brilliant.